Klezmer Music

Ensemble

Klezmer Music

The Klezmer Music Ensemble focuses on performance and style of the Klezmer musical traditions. The ensemble learns from active listening and imitation of a vast array of recordings beginning with pre-WWII European and American Golden Age klezmer, continuing into the klezmer revival and subsequent renaissance of the Seventies, and concluding with more contemporary experimental recordings. Repertoire from the Yiddish Theatre and other Jewish Eastern European traditions such as niggunim [wordless songs] will also be explored. In addition to performing, students will be introduced to key concepts in Jewish culture and history, giving context to the music.

The Lowell Milken Fund for American Jewish Music presents more than a dozen performances this academic year. Featuring special guest artists, world-class student performers and leading scholars in the field,…

READ: The group aims to recreate the historical culture surrounding klezmer music and contribute to a worldwide revival of the traditional music of rural Jewish life that was popular in the early 20th century.